Altech ALbelt Conveyor Labeling System

A label applicator is only as accurate as the thing presenting the product to it.

More labeling problems are conveyor problems than head problems. A pack that arrives slightly rotated, slightly early, slightly too close to the one in front, or not quite flat, produces a label that is crooked, missed or half on the flap. The head gets blamed. The head is fine.

The Altech ALbelt conveyor labeling system is the answer to that problem: belts built to hold a product square, at a known speed, with a known gap, under a labeling head. Marapack Services builds them into complete labeling systems, and where the standard range does not fit the plant we have custom stands and conveyor sections fabricated to spec.

Not sure whether a crooked label is the head or the belt? Book an equipment audit and we will watch the product arrive before anyone quotes a machine.

Marapack Services is an independent company, not Altech S.r.l. and not ALTech US. We are the Pacific Northwest distributor for Altech labeling systems, importing direct from the factory in Bareggio, Italy.

What is the Altech ALbelt conveyor labeling system?

The Altech ALbelt conveyor labeling system is Altech's range of belt conveyors built to carry a product square, at a known speed and with a known gap, under a labeling head. It runs from a compact single belt through flighted, vacuum, heavy duty and two section belts to twin side belt systems.

An ALbelt is the transport half of a labeling station. Put a head over it and you have a labeling system; put heads, transport and controls on one frame and you have one of the complete machines in our labeling machine range.

The ALbelt range, by Altech's own part codes

Which ALbelt conveyor does your line need?

The right ALbelt conveyor is set by how the product behaves, not by its size alone. A plain single belt suits a stable pack with a reliable gap, a flighted belt forces the gap, a vacuum kit holds light product down, a heavy duty frame carries bins, and twin side belts grip both faces.

BT02, the compact single belt. Short, small footprint, for a compact head on a short run or a bench-adjacent installation. It pairs naturally with an ALstep head.

BT05, the single belt. The standard workhorse under a labeling head, for example under one of the ALritma heads. The width choice, 200, 300 or 400 mm, is set by your product footprint plus the room the product needs to stay square, not by the product alone.

BT25, flighted. When products will not hold a gap on a plain belt, flights push them. This solves a common cause of a missed label, which is two products arriving with no gap between them and the head seeing one long product.

BT30, the vacuum kit. Light products, tall products and anything that shifts under the tamp. Vacuum holds the product to the belt while the label is applied.

BT41, heavy duty. Bins, totes, heavy cases and anything that would eventually deform a standard frame.

BT52, two section. The break between two belt sections is what makes an underside application possible on an inline machine, and it is the basis of inline lid and base labeling. Dedicated page: two section ALbelt conveyor.

BT70, BT72 and BT74, twin side belts. Two belts running on either side of the product, holding it square while both faces get labeled. This is the standard arrangement under a front and back labeling application, and the height adjustment matters because the grip point on a bottle is not the grip point on a tub.

When the conveyor, the heads and the controls should be one machine rather than components integrated on site, look at the ALline machines instead.

What product handling does a labeling conveyor need?

A labeling conveyor needs handling that fixes the product before it reaches the head: spacers and timing screws to set the gap, orienting units to turn the right face out, stabilizing belts to hold it steady, and rotary tables to buffer stops. Altech's MD, ME, MC and MT series cover each of these.

A conveyor moves product. Handling equipment decides what condition it arrives in, and it is where a difficult labeling application actually gets solved:

Spacing and gapping (MD series). Pneumatic gates, rubber wheel spacers, side belt spacers, timing screws and twin roller gapping. A timing screw is the answer when products must arrive at an exact interval rather than merely apart.

Orienting (ME series). Side belt aligners, double chain arrangements for elliptical products, twin grippers for oval products, and double timing screw units that orient and gap in one pass. Orientation is what stops a label landing on a seam.

Wrap around units (MR series). Hand wheel, vacuum, four axis and three roller wrap units, plus a flag label brush kit for tag and flag applications. For complete machines built around a wrap, see our wrap label applicators.

Stabilizing belts (MC series). An overhead belt that holds a light or tall product down and steady through the labeling station.

Rotary tables (MT series). Infeed and outfeed rotary accumulation tables, including versions for pharmaceutical vials. These buffer a line so that an upstream stop does not become a downstream stop.

Friction feeders. Altech's FF25 (250 mm, about 9.8 in) and FF40 (400 mm, about 15.7 in) friction feeders for feeding cards, leaflets and inserts into a line. Worth knowing: there is no page for these on altech.it, altech-us.com or altech-uk.com, which tells you something about how thoroughly this range is marketed rather than anything about the equipment.

Stands, mounting and the parts that hold it all together

Floor stands and columns. Fixed floor stands, hydraulic raising columns for height changes without a wrench, and a semi automatic support table for hand fed work.

Brackets and adapters. The bracket, adapter and mounting families that put a labeling head in the right position and hold it there under vibration. This sounds trivial and is not: a head that moves 2 mm under load applies a label 2 mm out, every time.

Electrical cabinets. Control and protection cabinets sized to the system.

Unwinds. Roll unwind units for large diameter label rolls, so that a longer roll means fewer web changes rather than a jam.

How does Altech name the ALbelt range?

Altech names the range by BT part codes, and the family name is ALbelt. The BT code is the identifier every parts quote is written against, and the letters SX and DX on an order confirmation mean left hand and right hand, which sets the side the drive and controls sit on.

For a conveyor, handing determines whether the operator side is the side you expected. Like handing on a labeling head, it is a build option rather than a field adjustment.

If you already own an ALbelt, quote the serial number and Commessa number from the plate rather than a model name. Factory parts quotes are keyed to those, and Altech maintains a 3D viewer per machine for identifying parts. Belts, drive parts and sensors are on our Altech parts list.

Can you supply a custom conveyor when the standard range does not fit?

Yes. Where a standard ALbelt length would mean moving a wall or accepting an awkward transfer between two lines, we have custom conveyors and stands fabricated to spec domestically rather than shipped from Italy. The custom section is specified against the same gap, speed and presentation requirements as the standard range.

Not every plant fits a catalog conveyor, and a custom section is often the honest answer.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an Altech conveyor to run an Altech labeling head? No. Heads mount over existing conveyors all the time, and a retrofit is often the cheaper right answer. What matters is whether your existing conveyor presents product squarely, at a consistent speed, with a consistent gap. If it does, keep it. If it does not, no head will fix it.

What belt width should I choose? Your product footprint plus the space it needs to stay square, plus any guide rails. Products that are close to the belt width tend to ride the edge and rotate. That is a specification decision that gets made on the site visit, not from a table.

What is the difference between a flighted belt and a spacer? A flighted belt carries products at fixed intervals set by the flights. A spacer creates a gap between products that are already on a plain belt. Flighted is more positive and less flexible; a spacer is more flexible and depends on the product behaving.

Can you add a conveyor to a labeling machine we already own, from another brand? Yes. We service Altech, Label-Aire 3100 applicators and 5100 systems, PackLeader, CTM and Tach-It machines, and a conveyor is a mechanical integration rather than a brand one. What matters is the mounting and the trigger signal.

Our labels are crooked. Is that the conveyor? Very often, yes. Crooked labels are usually a presentation problem: the product is rotating, riding the guide rail, or arriving at a slight angle. Before replacing a head, have somebody watch the product arrive rather than watch the label leave. Our label applicator troubleshooting guide walks through the checks.

Get the presentation right and the labeling gets easy

We would rather sell you the right conveyor than the wrong head. Often the machine that is failing is doing exactly what it was told to do by a line that is presenting product badly.

We watch the product arrive, measure gap, speed and squareness, and tell you where the problem actually is. Call 253-709-5566 or schedule a line walk and conveyor review.